II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1568 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 

of President John F. Kennedy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 17, 2017 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. MCCAIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘President John F. 

5 Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) John Fitzgerald Kennedy served in the 

9 United States Navy, earning the Navy and Marine 


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1 Corps Medal and a Purple Heart for his actions fol2 lowing the sinking of PT–109 during World War II; 

3 (2) John Fitzgerald Kennedy served honorably 

4 in the United States House of Representatives from 

5 1947 to 1953; 

6 (3) John Fitzgerald Kennedy served honorably 

7 in the United States Senate from 1953 to 1960; 

8 (4) in 1960, at 43 years of age, John Fitz9 gerald Kennedy became the youngest person ever 

10 elected President of the United States; 

11 (5) in his inaugural address, President Kennedy 

12 challenged all people of the United States to ‘‘ask 

13 not what your country can do for you—ask what you 

14 can do for your country’’; 

15 (6) President Kennedy’s call to service laid the 

16 foundation for the development of the Peace Corps; 

17 (7) President Kennedy again challenged the 

18 United States to put a man on the moon by the end 

19 of the 1960s and his ‘‘moonshot’’ is credited for 

20 spurring an interest in science and innovation; 

21 (8) 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the 

22 birth of President Kennedy, the 35th President of 

23 the United States; and 

24 (9) a commemorative coin honoring President 

25 Kennedy’s legacy of courage, service, innovation, and 


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1 inclusion will be a reminder to future generations of 

2 the importance of service to one’s country. 

3 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

4 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas5 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

6 shall mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 coins in 

7 commemoration of President John F. Kennedy, which 

8 shall— 

9 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

10 (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

11 (3) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 

12 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 

13 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 

14 title 31, United States Code. 

15 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

16 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

17 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis18 matic items. 

19 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

20 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins 

22 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life 

23 and legacy of President John F. Kennedy. 

24 (2) DESIGN AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin 

25 minted under this Act there shall be— 


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1 (A) a designation of the value of the coin; 

2 (B) an inscription of the year 2020; and 

3 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 

4 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer5 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

6 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 

7 under this Act shall be— 

8 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

9 with the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and 

10 the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

11 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

12 Committee. 

13 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

14 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 

15 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

16 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 

17 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

18 of the coins minted under this Act. 

19 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 

20 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 

21 period beginning on January 1, 2020. 

22 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

23 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 

24 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 

25 of— 


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1 (1) the face value of the coins; 

2 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 

3 respect to such coins; and 

4 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 

5 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 

6 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

7 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 

8 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 

9 discount. 

10 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 

12 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

13 before the issuance of such coins. 

14 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre15 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea16 sonable discount. 

17 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 

19 Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin. 

20 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f)(1) of 

21 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 

22 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 

23 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the John F. 

24 Kennedy Library Foundation, to support the John F. 

25 Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. 


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1 (c) LIMITATIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

2 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

3 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 

4 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

5 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro6 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

7 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

8 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in 

9 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec10 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

11 this subsection. 

Æ 


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